Girls Just Wanna Have Fun...

Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko

(Original Images and Text, Copyright (c) 2011 Cynthia Shenette) When I started to think about this post for the Annual Swimsuit Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I tried to come up with a period appropriate song title for the title of the post. No matter what song I thought of one song that was not at all period appropriate kept coming to mind, Cindy Lauper's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. It occurred to me that it doesn't matter when the song was written. Girls then and now, just want to have fun, especially when they're at the beach.

I don't know exactly when or where these photos of my grandmother Antonina (Bulak) Szerejko and her friends were taken. My guess is the late 1910s. I'm not sure of the location either. I'm pretty sure wherever it was it was in Massachusetts and on a trolley line from Worcester. Revere Beach possibly? I tried to see if I could match up the roller coaster or architecture to vintage photos of Revere Beach, but no such luck. If anyone recognizes the location I'd love to hear from you.

These photos are just such fun. I found them in an old scrapbook that was originally buried in my mother's basement. The photos are small, and I only noticed some of the details in them when I scanned and enlarged them. They are so wonderfully candid. Clearly the girls--my grandmother, her sister Helen Bulak, cousin Sophie (Kowalewski) Konopka, and two unidentified friends--are having fun on the beach posing for the camera.

Barbara - I think you are right. They probably did use an entire roll of film. Given that having a camera was something of a novelty at the time, they seemed to enjoy posing for the camera as much as their day at the beach.

Wow! Fabulous collection of pics! Each and everyone of them deserves to be enlarged, framed, and hung on a wall. I must admit, I have photo envy. You are one lucky girl to have such great period pics. Thanks so much for sharing!

Jasia - Thank you for your comment! I do feel lucky to have all the photos I do. I wish I knew more about them though. I found most of my photos when I cleaned out my mom's house. By that time my grandmother was long gone, and my mom either didn't remember or know anything about them. It's kind of fun doing the research or in this case imagining what their day was like.

It looks like there is a roller coaster in the background of one of those photos. I googled and found that Old Orchard Beach in Maine had a roller coaster (see http://www.cardcow.com/viewall/64576/ and http://www.oldorchardbeachmaine.com/History.htm. Also, I believe that my people spent a lot of time on Nantasket Beach when they lived in Worcester. There is a Paragon Park near there with a roller coaster. I don't know if it is visible from the beach or not.

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About Me

A long-time librarian, I am mostly of Polish, Acadian, and French-Canadian descent. I have started this blog to share and acquire genealogical knowledge, achieve inner peace, and perhaps realize my ultimate quest, to find two ancestors with the same surname who actually spelled their surnames exactly the same way...